I Spent Christmas jumping between the in laws and home, catching up with friends and family on both the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. My father - in - law was telling me of his experiences with Kevin Rudd. Rudd used to drop in regularly to my father-in-law's service station on a Saturday and spend up to two hours talking, with his 'mobile office' parked across the road. It made me reflect on what a successful local member Rudd has proven to be.
In the 2004 election, Rudd secured 58.63% of the vote - representing roughly a 3% swing to Labor at each election since 1998. He has managed to do this despite being Shadow Foreign Minister since November 2001 - a job which had taken him overseas significantly more than the average Labor politician. His 'mobile office' has been a regular feature around South Brisbane, and Rudd gained favour and profile in his lobbying against increased aircraft traffic over his electorate.
There is no doubt that Rudd has a tenacity and capacity for work that is similar to John Howard. His perceived energy levels are much higher than any of his predecessors - Latham seemed drained, run down - and eventually self-defeating, Beazley was overweight and therefore 'lazy'. No one has been able to match 'little' Johnny and his daily power walks - but Rudd and incessant media tarting and 'listen tours' definitely matches Howard for drive and desire.
What will be most interesting is to see how Rudd deals with adversity - when the media that has for so long been Rudd's personal 'champion' turns against him, when the political fist fight starts to leave him worse for wear. We all know how Howard has risen up against adversity, beating the odds and all political commentators courtesy of a Lazarus triple bypass - but does Rudd have that same ability? Time will tell....
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